Recent Articles

WESTFIELD, N.J.--With the top five delegate-rich Super Tuesday states for Democrats having sizable and vocal openly LGBT populations, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are making their pitches. Yesterday, Hillary Clinton's campaign posted, on a lesbian social networking site run by supporter Hilary Rosen , a statement by the candidate titled, " A Message to LGBT Americans: "I Want to Be Your President ":

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.--In a few hours, Barack Obama 's friends among the Left-Coast deadheads will line up for a concert by the surviving members of the Grateful Dead in support of the candidate. Here in Jersey, a whole different king of gathering just took place in an arena that is better known to Springsteen fans (though I did once see the Dead perform here). In many ways, it was what you'd expect -- a bunch of tough-talking Jersey pols with those marvelous, hard-vowelled accents -- extolling the virtues of their chosen candidate and imploring those present to turn out the vote.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Actor Robert De Niro just took the stage at the Izod Arena in the Meadowlands -- home to the New Jersey Devils, Bruce Springsteen concerts and, possibly, a pair of cement shoes belonging to Jimmy Hoffa -- to make a speech in support of Barack Obama , who has pulled even with Hillary Clinton in the polls for Jersey's Super Tuesday primary. DeNiro began his speech taking shots at Hillary Clinton 's claim of "experience" as her virtue. Obama "didn't have the experience" to cast the wrong vote for the war in Iraq or invite "corporate interests" to the government trough. Then he introduced Caroline Kennedy and Senator Ted Kennedy , who just took the stage to deliver a trademark barnburner. The crowd is chanting "Teddy, Teddy, Teddy." Stay tuned. Update: Thanks to commenter Jack, who straightened me out on where the Devils actually play these days: in Newark's Prudential Center. --Adele M. Stan

For the last few days, I've sat on my hands as the feminist movement's leading lights sought to smooth over the latest intramural wrangle over whether one could be a good feminist and vote for the man in this Democratic presidential primary. So far, little smoothing seems to have taken place, leaving this most dangerous of charges to linger. It began on Monday, when the New York State chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) issued a press release accusing Sen. Edward Kennedy of "betrayal" for his endorsement of the man whose name dare not be spoken, Hillary Clinton 's "opponent". (In the meantime, NOW National President Kim Gandy issued a statement lauding Kennedy for his commitment to women's rights.) The general word from movement leaders is that the women of NOW-NYS, led by Marcia Pappas , are entitled to their opinions. That was the line advanced last night on "Hardball" by the indomitable Faye Wattleton of the Center for the Advancement of Women . True enough. But so...

In a primary contest that is increasingly defined by race and gender -- thanks to the "firsts" represented by the presidential candidacies of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama -- Black women are in a unique position, poised to celebrate the nomination of either candidate as one of their own, yet highly tuned into any sex- or race-based cardplay exercised by the campaigns or the media. Within the black voting population, the majority of votes -- as much as 60 percent of black votes -- will be cast by women. Nowhere is that more apparent than in South Carolina, where more than half of of Democratic voters are Black, the majority of them women . By at least one estimate , black women could make up as much as 30 percent of the South Carolina Democratic primary vote. If the nomination contest is as close at the national level as suggested by the most recent Reuters/Zogby poll , which found Obama and Clinton virtually tied, at 38 and 39 percent respectively, Black women could determine the...